The e-visa is now the standard route into Vietnam for independent travellers: apply online, keep your passport, receive the result by email and print it yourself. The process is straightforward, but the system is unforgiving about data — one wrong character in a passport number means a rejection, and the fee is not refunded.

Before you start

Collect all four items below into one folder before opening the application portal. Hunting for documents halfway through is what causes sessions to time out and applicants to start over.

  • A portrait photo on a white background, facing forward, no glasses, no hat, in .jpg format.
  • A scan of your passport bio page, sharp, all four corners visible, no glare.
  • Trip details: intended entry date, entry and exit checkpoints, and your address in Vietnam.
  • An international payment card for the online fee.

The five steps

  1. Go to the official e-visa portal and select the application for foreign nationals. Use only the official address — many look-alike sites charge several times the real fee.
  2. Upload your photos and enter your details exactly as printed in your passport: surname, given names, date of birth, passport number, issue and expiry dates.
  3. Enter your trip information: single or multiple entry, intended arrival date, entry and exit checkpoints, and your address in Vietnam.
  4. Pay the fee and save the reference code the system returns. Without it you cannot retrieve your result.
  5. Check and download the result using that code, then print it and carry it with your passport at check-in.

Six mistakes that cause rejections

These are the errors our visa desk sees most often:

  • Surname and given names in the wrong order. Copy the passport exactly; do not reorder them to your home convention.
  • A blurred or cropped passport scan. Use a scanner, or lay the passport flat under even light.
  • The wrong checkpoint. An e-visa is valid only at the checkpoint you registered — changing airports means reapplying.
  • An arrival date earlier than your actual flight. Validity starts on the date you declared, not the day you land.
  • Less than six months of passport validity. Renew the passport first, then apply.
  • Applying too close to departure. Allow at least 7–10 working days so there is room to respond if more information is requested.

Once your e-visa is approved

Print at least two copies, keep them separate from your passport, and save a PDF on your phone. At check-in the airline usually asks to see the e-visa before Vietnamese immigration does. Verify three fields one final time: full name, passport number and entry checkpoint.

For larger groups, filing applications one by one invites errors. Victoria Tour reviews the whole group's data before submission, which sharply reduces the number of applications that have to be redone.

Please note: Vietnam entry rules can change at short notice. Before departure, always confirm the current requirements on the official portal evisa.gov.vn or with the nearest Vietnamese embassy or consulate.